Daisies or I love you, I love you not
by Nina Falkestav
Summary: Ryan O'reily is lying in a coma at Benchly memorial when Shannon , his ex-wife, comes to visit.
1. Default Chapter

She had magically got the word delivered from some acquaintances they shared with a certain Liam Meany, an inmate at Oz, and had though about it ever since.  
  
Now she had finally managed to find the courage to see him.  
  
This is so fucking stupid! A voice in her head told her as she dialled the number.  
  
Why? You're not fucking scared of him, he wouldn't harm you for the world and you know it! So what's the worst thing that could happen? He'll throw you out?  
  
Like he's going to be able to throw anyone out in the state he's in!  
  
He'll tell you that he hates you? That he doesn't love you? And that he never has and never will and that he never wants to see you again?  
  
So what if he doesn't love you? You're not to crazy about him either, with rights, but you need closure!  
  
Besides, the man is in a fucking coma, he's not going to go blabbering to anyone about anything!  
  
Now make the fucking call!  
  
"Benchly memorial."  
  
"Hi, my name is Shannon; Shannon O´reily...I'm calling about my husband..."  
  
It was a complete lie, and if the nurse took the time to check around in the files or ask anyone who knew their story, she'd know that in a second.  
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
"How's he doing?"  
  
"Well, you'll have to talk to the doctor about that, dear...Why don't you come down here and talk to him?"  
  
"No, well, I..."  
  
"You see, in cases like this Doctor Winters really prefers to speak to all parties involved face to face...There! I've booked you in first thing tomorrow dear, will that be O.K?"  
  
"But...But..."  
  
"Really, I think it's for the best if you come down here and meet the doctor, and you can see your hubby too, provided the police let you..." The tone in the woman's voice told her that she wasn't very happy with the police being there... It made Shannon instantly like the woman a whole lot more!  
  
So what if she wasn't his wife anymore?! If she just went there and talked to the doctor and saw him for a brief second, what harm could it do?  
  
"Dear? So how about tomorrow then? At one o'clock?"  
  
She took a deep breath and said it quickly!  
  
"Um, yeah, that's O.K I guess..."  
  
"Excellent! You'll see that your hubby will be just fine in no time..." The nurse was trying to console her, obviously mistaking her doubts as to going for grief or fright of what had happened.  
  
She caught herself actually *being* frightened at what had happened, but quickly threw that thought away!  
  
"Alright then, maybe I´ll see you tomorrow then sweetheart, I'm on duty between noon and six o'clock, my name is nurse O´Connel."  
  
"Um, yeah...Thanks..."  
  
She heard the receiver being put down at the other end and put her own phone back on the latch.  
  
"Shit Shannon O´reily! What have you just gotten yourself into?!"  
  
She heard herself saying it out loud and groaned.  
  
Oh, so now I'm talking to myself too?! Now that's just fucking great! Stop it! Just stop!  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
The next day, at one o'clock, after a sleepless night, she arrived at the hospital.  
  
She went up to the desk in the reception.  
  
"Could you tell me where ICU is please?"  
  
"Sure miss. You just go down this hall and to the left, there you'll find an elevator hall. Take the elevator up to the fifth floor, and you're there."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
She walked of in the direction the woman behind the counter had pointed out to her.  
  
ICU...It sounded so fucking serious...It was serious!  
  
There was a time a few years back, where this was all she longed for...Some sort of revenge. Get the bastard back for what he had done! She wished she could still feel that way...Now she mostly felt sorry for him, the man she had loved in all ways possible, who had loved her...Or at least she thought so...  
  
She wouldn't let him of without telling him her mind this time though; she still had that much anger in her. No siree, he would not be let of easy... Not like she had a few years ago, or like when he had screwed around and cheated on her with basically every woman in the whole fucking city of New York. Or well, at least it had felt that way....  
  
This time she wanted answers to her questions, or, no, she didn't want them, she *demanded* them! He wasn't getting away this time, courtesy of his bullshit charm. This time it was serious!  
  
Of course, maybe it would be a good idea to let him wake up from that coma he was in, before she started asking questions and demanded answers...  
  
She stepped out of the elevator out into the hallway. She paused for a moment outside the door to the ward, but then decisively pushed it open and walked into the ward and up to the counter just inside the door.  
  
"Shannon O´reily...I'm here to see my e...my husband..."  
  
"Oh, yes! Welcome dear, I'm nurse O´connel." The woman smiled at her and she smiled back.  
  
"Nice to meet you dear."  
  
"Um, you too."  
  
"Let's see...Mr. O´reily is in room 373. I´ll walk you there. Now I want you to prepare yourself a bit dear...You husband was *very* lucky to make it out of that attack alive, but well, he did get some serious injuries and we've had to put him on a respirator and a few monitor devices..."  
  
Shannon suddenly felt as if this hadn't really been a very good idea at all!  
  
The nurse registered the doubts on her face and said: "Don't worry, it's alright to be a bit scared. But he's still you husband, he's not a freak, and hopefully, he will be completely recovered, even though it will take a very long time. But what we are hoping for now, is that he will wake up out of his coma, and then we'll just have to take it from then..."  
  
They had arrived to the room in which her ex-husband was lying. The man she hated and loved and always had and probably always would... The nurse waved for the policemen to go away and Shannon took a deep breath as the nurse opened the door, and walked in.  
  
Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw! Even if she had seen Ryan get into fights and even shootouts before, nothing had been as bad as this!  
  
There where tubes and machines everywhere, attached through chords, to various parts of Ryan's body.  
  
She immediately backed out of the room and had to steady herself towards the wall to be able to stay up-right.  
  
"Oh dear, oh dear!"  
  
The nurse went up to her.  
  
"Don't be scared dear! He needs you, now more than ever...I know it's hard to try to stay strong, but this time he needs for you to have strength for the both of you...Let's try to go in there again, huh, and I´ll explain what all the tubes and machines is doing, so you can understand it better...O.K?"  
  
Shannon snivelled a bit but then said: "OK"  
  
"Good."  
  
The nurse gently held her shoulder as they walked back into the room.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
After the nurse had explained what all the machines was doing for Ryan, Shannon felt a bit better.  
  
"I´ll tell the doctor you're here, dear, and he'll send someone for you when he's ready. O.K?"  
  
"Um, O.K."  
  
Shannon sat down on a chair next to the bed where the man was lying, motionless as the nurse moved out.  
  
The nurse had told her to talk to him, to "keep his brain going".  
  
She didn't know what to say though...  
  
"Hey. Just thought I´d let you know I'm here...If you knew, I'm sure you'd go ape-shit though. I mean it's not like we were on really chummy terms last time we met..."  
  
Images of his cold eyes that day, and herself running out of the room, furious, only to stop outside the gates to cry her eyes out, surfaced.  
  
"God you're such an idiot! I guess you're paying for it too though, huh?..."  
  
Of course there was no reply.  
  
"Well anyway, I need to talk to ya...I guess it's not very fair of me to tell you my mind when you can't defend yourself though...Besides, I want you to be awake to hear what I have to say!"  
  
Just then there was a knock on the door.  
  
"Missus O´reily?"  
  
"Um, uh, yeah..." She hadn't been called Missus by anyone for ages. Six years to be exact...  
  
"Doctor Winters is ready for you now."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Come on, I´ll show you to his room." Trying to be helpful with all the fuss she saw that the other woman was going through.  
  
"O.K...I mean...Thanks."  
  
The nurse smiled at her.  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
Shannon got up and walked to the door. Then she turned around taking a last look on her ex-husband, and went with the nurse.  
  
**************************************************************************** ************** 


	2. Daisies or I love you, I love you not ch...

The nurse walked with her down the hall and into another corridor. There, she stopped in front of one of the doors and knocked on it.

A middle-aged, strict looking man opened

"Doctor Winters, this is Mrs O´reily."

"Mrs O´reily? It says nothing in here about Mister O´reily being married. In fact only his mother is listed as next of kin, and his father, but he seemed like he couldn't care less I'm afraid."

He probably couldn't, the bastard!

But she couldn't concentrate on her intense hate for Sheamus O´reily right now, she had to come up with some pretty good lies to get out of this one!

"Well, you see, when they arrested Ryan, he was kind of…Well... he was on a buzz, and so he couldn't really answer their questions properly, so they ended up thinking that he had no wife, and well, I guess they never changed that in their report, which of course is old, but I guess you must have got a hold of an old copy…"

That's right Shannon, blame it all on the poor bastard lying in that bed, being too high when they arrested him! What an incredibly shitty excuse by the way, that doctor guy is never going to believe that!

But it seemed he did, as he just sat down on his chair and gestured for her to sit down on the one next to him.

"I see… Very well Missus O´reily, Since I know you have seen Mister O´reily and the nurse has already explained what the different machines he's hooked up to does for him, I guess you want to know why they have to do it…"

"Uh, um, yeah…"

"Well, you see when Ryan had his accident, he got several hard blows to different areas of his head. Some so hard that he has sustained some brain damages…"

Shannon could help but gasp.

"Oh you're not saying that he's gonna have to be hooked up to those machines for the rest of his life because I'm just not having that, and if that's the case then you're just going to have to fucking do something Or I´ll!…"

"Missies O´reily!…" He stopped her. "Missies O´reily, please hear me out will you?"

She looked at him, sullen and said: "yeah, O.K…"

"Alright, as I was saying, Mister O´reily has acquired some brain damages from those blows to his head, but the thing that makes us have to hook him up to the respirator and the heart-monitor, is the fact that when he got those blows to his head, his brain swelled slightly in the are where the medulla oblongata is located."

Shannon looked like she was going to burst out in anger at any time now.

"So, what the hell does all of this mean then?! Speak English so a woman can understand goddamn it!"

"Hrm!…"

Oh dear god she's got a foul mouth, that one!

"Well what this swelling in the brain means, in practical terms, is that it temporarily knocks out the parts of his brain that controls and monitors his breathing and card…Heart function."

"Oh Jesus Christ you mean he's…!"

"But!…But hopefully in a day or two the swelling will subside and we will be able to take him off the respirator."

"Oh."

"Yes."

"Good!"

"Well yes, that's one way of putting it…"

"So that's the only problem then?"

"Hmmm. Not quite I'm afraid… He still has injuries to his brain, some that are probably more permanent than others…Some that are more easily trained away or around, and some not so easy. I which any case, he's probably going to need a long period of rehabilitation."

"So you're saying he's gonna get problems and stuff?"

"Well, yes…" He sighed, but tried to be really patient and decided to try to explain this part to the loudmouthed woman once more in, simpler terms…

Much simpler terms!

"Since he has injuries in the part of the brain called the cerebrum, his frontal lobe to be exact, and probably also on the Broca's area, Mister O´reily may have speech problems called dysphasia."."

"So what yore saying is he might get trouble talking?"

"Right."

"How do you mean trouble talking?!"

He once again sighed.

"Well, he might slur and also mix up words or simply have forgotten some words…"

"Like calling a dog "A cat" and that kinda stuff?"

"Exactly!"

He was very proud of himself for finally getting the simple, loud, boisterous woman to understand!

"Now we are not quite sure of this, but it looks as if he might also have got a few minor hematomas in the Parietal Lobe…"

"Hematomas?!"

"Bleedings!…"

"O.K, O.K, well then say that!"

"Anyway! This might affect his ability to receive and interpret sensation. Hot, cold, pain, pleasure, you know?!"

"I know what sensation is!"

Hell, the way Ryan and I fucked while we were married, I know all about sensation!

"Excellent!" Sounding very sarcastic. "Then I suggest we move on…"

"There's more?!"

"Yes…" He sighed, wishing his meeting with the stupid, unpleasant woman would be over soon!

" Due to a small and probably permanent hematoma around the vestibulocochlear- nerve Mr O´reily will most probably also suffer some temporary or permanent reduction in his capability of movement."

"So you mean he's gonna get trouble walking and stuff?"

"Well, he might, but yes."

"Oh fuck! Shit ! I guess he got one hell of a pummelling!"

"Well yes…I suppose that is one way of putting it…"

He found the woman's choice of words rather distasteful!

There are also two final injuries that might influence his wellbeing. Now, it doesn't seem like these are permanent injures, but they are bound to be difficult for him to accept anyway…"

He hesitated.

"SO?!"

"So?"

"Well, what are the fucking injuries you're talking about?!"

"Oh!"

He looked at her, disapprovingly, and she glared back.

"Well tell me then!"

"Well, Missies O´reily, to put in simply and bluntly, mister O´reily has a bleeding on his spinal-chord, and on that part of his brain that handles his, hrm…His…The muscles that control his bowels and urinary system."

"Oh Fuck!"

Shannon was shocked! And she felt an incredibly deep concern and pity for Ryan! The other bits, he could most definitely rise form and survive, as stubborn as he was, but this!?…

He would be more than mortified!

" Hmm, yes…With all these potential and confirmed injuries, and some we might not even be made aware of until he wakes up,,I'm sure you realise that Mister O´reily will require a long period of rehabilitation."

"Oh yeah, tell me about it!"

"Therefore It's imperative that you help him out during this time, both emotionally, and practically. He's bound to find the process of recovery slow and frustrating in both those aspects.

"But I'm!…"

…Not his wife?! Christ Shannon how fucking stonehearted can you get ?!

"Look! He really will need you missus O´reily! A brain damage like this is not a piece of cake to manage!" The doctor knew he was out of line, but he just couldn't believe how cold-hearted the woman seemed!

"The man apparently only has his mother to depend on, and the poor woman really needs some support right now!"

"Yeah, I know, I know…I just, well, I kinda panicked…"

"Hmm, well like I said, it's going to be a rough ride, but we, the hospital staff will help you out as much as we can, so please don't hesitate to come to us if you have any questions."

Just please do it on my day off!

"All right doc, I will."

"Hmm, you're welcome. I´ll get nurse O´Connell to follow you out."

"I think I´d go back to see my e…Ryan again."

"All right then."

There was nothing more said, no "pleasure to meet you", no "thank you doctor", or reassuring words for Shannon asshe walked out the door to stand in the hallway, still in shock.

She slumped on the floor into a sitting position, head and back against the wall.

How in the fucking hell am I gonna pull this off?!

She started crying

Nurse O´Connell found her there ten minutes later.

"O my dear, dear child! How are you, sweetie?"

Shannon just snivelled as an answer; it was all she could do.

"Oh, dear…Come with me dear, I´ll see to it that you get a nice cup of strong coffee, or do you prefer tea?"

"Coffee would be great, thanks…" she snivelled back.

The nurse smiled at her.

"Well, coffee it is then dear!"

Nurse O´Connel helped her to stand, and then, being used to these situations firmly but kindly led her towards the nurses´s kitchen.

"Here you go dear. Now you'll see that you feel a tiny bit better in just a minute, huh?"

"Thanks."

"It's hard to see these all cases, you never really get used to it. People do such foolish things to each other…"

Shannon listened while she greedily drank her coffee. It had been just what she needed.

"I´m sure your hubby will wake up soon though. He shows all the signs of getting better as far as the swelling on his brain, it seems."

"Oh! That's wonderful!"

"And once he wakes up, you can start working on his problems together. I'm not saying it will be easy, but he'll manage in the end, and so will you. You seem like a smart and stubborn girl, and he'd have to smart and pretty stubborn himself to marry someone like you…"

"He is…He just focuses on the wrong things sometimes…"

Shannon felt like she was fifteen and sitting Sister John's office, talking about some boyfriend…But she liked the feeling. She had never been good at opening up to people; always trying to be the strong one, but she desperately needed someone to talk to right now!

"Well, yes, I can imagine…With him getting himself in trouble and landing himself in prison and all…How long is he in for?"

"I…I think it's life now…"

"Oh dear! Oh poor man! And poor, poor you darling for having to be without him so much then! It can be easy being married with someone who's in prison for life…"

Shannon couldn't hold up the charade longer…Not to this sweet caring woman.

"Well, promise you'll not say anything to anybody…"

"Oh cross my heart! I won't breathe a word to anyone…!"

"It's really important…"

"Not a word dear, not a word."

"Well…I'm not really his wife anymore…"

The nurse looked at her half shocked, half questioningly.

" He divorced me a few years back, and I really haven't seen or spoken to him since…"

"Oh dear! Why, if I may be as blunt as to ask…"

"Well, it's along story, but he fell in love with the female doctor in the prison he's in, and well…That's why…"

She thought it best to leave the rest out. She wasn't sure of how the nice woman would take it…

"Oh! And this female doctor and he, are they…Together... Now?"

"Not that I've heard…I haven't seen him in such a long time, but from what I've heard from friends, who should know, they split up after a while, and then she moved…"

"Oh I see…"

Shannon had finished her coffee.

"Oh I guess I should be going…"

"Would you like to see your h…your ex-h…"

Shannon smiled.

"Ryan."

The nurse smiled back.

"Yes. Would you like to see Ryan again and say goodbye for today?"

"I…I'm not sure that's such a good idea…"

"Oh! Well, if you want me to, I could always come with you…"

"Well…"

"I'm sure he'd appreciate it if he knew."

Shannon wasn't at all as sure of that!

"Well…O.K…I guess."

"Don't worry, I´ll go in there with you, and if things get too scary we can always go out again, and if you have any questions, you ask them too, and I´ll try to answer as best I can."

"Thanks."

The nurse got up from her chair, put Shannon's cup in the dishwasher and helped Shannon to her feet.

"All right now, dear?", She asked before letting her go.

"Yes thank you, I'm fine now, I think."

"Good! Let's go see Ryan then…"

They moved out of the kitchen and towards Ryan's room.

Once there, the nurse opened the door, and Shannon reluctantly walked in.

Once again she almost fled when she saw the state he was in, but the nurse took her hand and said:

"It's O.K. He's still alive and warm. Here, touch him"

She placed Shannon's slightly reluctant hand on Ryan's rough cheek.

Shannon let her hand stay there for just a moment.

So this is you, huh? After so many years, I'm touching your cheek again, just like I did in the mornings in bed, trying to wake you up. You'd groan and wave it away, and then I´d have to start all over again, tickling your cheek or forehead, and then kissing you. The kissing always did the trick…

Wonder if you'd wake up this time, if I kissed you?

But I won't. We're past that.

Besides, that respirator thing is in the way.

Looking at the tube of the respirator made her pull back into the real world again.

"He needs a shaving…"

"I think you're right, dear. Should I ask one of the other nurses to do it do you think?"

"Nah, he can be pretty picky with that sort of thing, or at least he used to be. I´ll do it, I know how he wants it, or I think I still know how…I´ll bring his old shaving-stuff tomorrow or the day after, depending on when I can get away from work."

The nurse smiled sweetly but sadly at her.

" That sound good, dear. Should I see if I can get some of the hospital shaving cream or anything?"

"Nah, I´ll pick up some Dakkar Noir after work before I come here, if that's what he still uses, I'm not sure that's what he still uses thought, since I haven't seen him in such a long time and…."

"…I'm sure that will do just fine dear." Nurse O´Connell interrupted her, hearing she was working herself into a panic.

There was a bit of a silence.

"So would you like to have a moment alone with him, dear?"

Shannon suddenly got an even more panicked look in her eyes, which the nurse picked up on.

Oh dear! Not quite ready yet I guess…

"Nah, I have to get home, I have…I have things to do and stuff, you know."

They moved out towards the door, Shannon in pure, but controlled, panic over the situation and the nurse to try to make a mense.

"Oh! Of course. Well, I´ll see you tomorrow then dear."

"Yeah, probably, or…Well yes, tomorrow or the day after."

"Good. You take care, dear!"

Shannon was slightly overwhelmed by the warmth and sincerity in the woman's voice.

"Um, thanks…You too…"

She half stumbled over the threshold and out into the corridor leading to the elevator-hall.

When she got home, Shannon sat down in the kitchen without even taking her jacket off.

Once there, the shock again loosened, and she sat there crying.

"Mrrrrp."

"O´Malley! Hi sweetie! God I needed you to come!"

She picked up the small, fiercely red tabby cat in her knee and started stroking it.

The cat eventually moved off her lap to walk up on the kitchen table and lay herself to rest next to Shannon's arm. Shannon brought her other arm up and laid it on the table so that she was caressing the cat. She gently laid her head on the cat, hearing it purr soothingly.

"I love you so much!"

She wasn't actually sure if she was talking to the cat before her, or the person in her thoughts.

She fell asleep.


	3. Dasies or I love you, I love you not Cha...

She woke up from hearing O´Malley meowing her heart out in front of the food bowl.

"Oh god! Is it morning already?!"

Christ! You're doing it again! Don't talk to yourself like that Shannon; you'll turn it into a habit!

She turned her attention to the cat, who was now stroking its side and cheek against her leg.

"Yes, yes, I know, I know, you're hungry…"

She took a handfull of kibbles out of the bag of cat food and laid them into the bowl.

"There you go sweetie. Now, I think mommy had better hurry if she's going to make it to work on time today!"

Glancing at the clock in the hallway as she passed it, she quickly realised that there was no chance what so ever that she would actually get to work on time.

It was now 8.40, she started work at 9 and the interiour decorating firm she worked in was 20 minutes away, if she got lucky and caught a subway train right when se arrived the station. If not, the trains on that line ran in 8-minute intervals. Besides that, she was still wearing yesterdays clothes, had not showered or washed herself, her hair probably looked terrible and she was as hungry as a wolf since she had not eaten since lunch the day before.

She started getting herself ready.

"So you took the day off yesterday and then you come in late this morning, huh? What is this, madly in love with someone are you, Shannon?"

Keisha smiled and winked at her.

She faintly smiled back.

Oh god Keisha, if only you knew! Mad? Yes. Both in the sense of being out of my mind, and in the sense of being pissed as hell with the bugger!

In love?

Who knows…

When she had finished her workday, she wasn't sure of what to do.

Was she going to go to the hospital, or just go home and go there another day? Or maybe just go home and not go back to the hospital at all?

At home, O´Malley awaited her and she could have a quiet night in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn.

She could use that…

Or she could always call Richard, the handsome guy who ran the bar across the street, to see if he had the night off. She was pretty sure he did. They could go to the movies like they usually did on occasions like this.

Or she could spend the night in the hospital, shaving, and then trying to have a conversation with the one guy she hated more than anyone in the world, but still had some strange feelings for; while he was lying in bed, safely tucked away in a coma.

Her ex-husband.

She opted for having a night out with Ricky.

About halfway home, her conscience caught up with her. She fought it, but still ended up going to Macy´s to buy a bottle of Dakkar Noir shaving cream and after-shave respectively.

O.K, now I'm all set for tomorrow then. But tonight is damn well my night, and you're not going to ruin it, Ryan O´reily!

Three hours later, sitting in the movie-salon, she still couldn't let go of the thought of her ex-husband lying in that cold, sterile looking hospital bed, strange machines hooked up to him everywhere and constantly bleeping.

That's ex -husband Shannon!

Ex-husband as in "I don't want to be married to you anymore."

Ex-husband as in' thanks for 9 years of marriage, now fuck off.'

Ex-husband as in the fucking bastard that left you with your heart broken!

"Are you all right honey?"

"Uh? What?"

"Shannon, are you O.K?"

"Um, yeah…I was just thinking…"

"About what?"

All right Shannon, deep breath. You have no obligation towards Ricky!

"I saw Ryan today."

"Ryan as in Ryan O´reily, your ex-husband?"

See Shannon, there you go! EX-husband!"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

Shannon could see that he did his best to not look hurt, but he was.

"He's in a coma."

"What?!"

"Shhh!"

A large lady on the row in front of them turned around and raised her finger to her mouth.

"Oh! Sorry!" Richard whispered.

"He's in what did you say?!" he whispered to Shannon.

"He's in a coma. Unconscious, you know?"

"Oh god, Shannon!"

"Shhh."

"Oh Sorry. "

He turned his attention back to Shannon.

"I'm so sorry to hear that! Is he in the hospital then?"

He realised after he had asked, what a stupid question it was. But Shannon didn't seem to notice much.

"Yes."

"In a hospital inside prison?"

"Well, no…He's at Benchly memorial…" She said; then adding, sarcastically: "I guess they're not too worried that he'll run away right now…"

"Well, no, I guess not…"

There was a bit of a silence.

"So do you want to go home and rest, and we can see each other tomorrow?"

"I have to go to the hospital tomorrow…I´m sorry Ricky…"

"Oh that's O.K…"

She could hear on his voice that it really wasn't.

"Friday huh? Go out for a drink?"

"Yeah, sure! I'm here for you Shannon when ever and whatever you want. Even if you just want a good friend."

"Thanks Ricky!"

"Shhh!"

"It really means a lot!"

"SHHHH!"

"Oh shut up!"

"Um, Shannon, I think we'd better go…"

Ricky had seen the big lady get up out of her seat by now, and the woman made for an impressive sight, and looked quite strong too!

"Yeah, OK."

They ducked out of the building as soon as possible.

They stopped outside Shannon's door.

"Nighty-night then."

"Good night..."

He gave her a tiny tender kiss on the cheek and she made her way up the steps to the front door.

"Oh and Shannon!…"

She turned around to look at him.

"Anytime, even if you just need a friend."

"Thanks Ricky!"

"Your welcome darling. Now go home and sleep!"

"I will honey, I will…"

And sleep she did!

She had put her alarm-bell to wake her up an hour early the next morning, and she was lucky to have done that!

Once she was all dressed, had packed the shaving cream and after-shave and her papers into her bag, she remembered one vital little thing she had forgotten…

The shaving-set…

She hurriedly went to the basement and started searching. She knew the shaving-set Ryan had got for their last Christmas together had to be there somewhere!

After searching for 45 minutes she finally found it in a pile with some of his old shirts and shoes and pants.

She took it out and smelled the brush, tuning it over and over in her hands; it smelled good. Smelled of him.

DONT! DONT YOU DARE COME IN AND RUIN MY LIFE AGAIN, YOU BASTARD!

I have a perfectly good life! A good job, which I'm good at, a nice flat for which I pay the rent myself, and I have Ricky who, loves me…

She stopped herself there, not sure that she could actually say that she loved Ricky…

Oh never mind! I have to get to work!


	4. Daisies or I love you, I love you not Ch...

After a long and strenuous working day, she finally made it to the hospital-ward.

"Oh hello there dear!"

She was met by nurse O´Connell who walked up to her as she stepped inside the doors.

"Um, hi…"

"So how are you honey? How have you been? How was yesterday?"

" I'm fine, and yesterday…Well…I went to the movies with a friend but…"

"You ended up thinking about Ryan?"

"Yeah…"

"It's not uncommon, I mean he's been through a horrible thing, and so have you in the last couple of days. And when our men, be it ex-husbands, husbands or sons or whatever, get hurt, our maternal instincts tend to come out. But it's important that you can relax and have fun too, and not only think of him."

"Hmm yeah, I guess…."

Both women stood silent for a while.

"I brought his shaving stuff…."

"Excellent! Would you like me to help you with anything?"

"Um, could you get a bowl or something, so that I can have some water to rinse the razor?"

"Oh but of course! You make your way to Ryan's room and I´ll meet you there, huh?"

"Yeah, O.K…" She wasn't sure she was ready to go in alone quite yet.

The nurse read her mind.

"You wait outside of the door and we'll go in together if that makes it easier."

"Thanks."

She started making her way towards the door behind which her ex-husband was lying, apparently lifeless.

"Here you go dear…"

The nurse was carrying a smoking bowl of water in her hand, towel in between her hand and the bowl.

"It's quite hot right now, but I thought maybe that would be better, because then it won't go cold so fast. Just because he's in a coma doesn't necessarily mean your husband can't feel hot and cold, I think…"

" I doesn't?"

"No. In fact, if he does seem to respond to something, I´d like for you to inform us of it, because that means he might be closer to waking up."

"Oh. Ok."

In a way she hoped and prayed that he would wake up, so that at least they could start dealing with the problems that lay ahead of them

Ahead of us?! Reality check Shannon- EX-husband! Ah fuck, I might as well stick around for while though, just until he wakes up or so, that way I can tell him what I need and then get the fuck away from him. He doesn't seem to have anyone else, except his ma I guess…I thought she was long since dead?!

In another way she was scared of what might happen when and if he finally did wake up!

"So, feel ready to go in then?"

She sighed.

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Don't worry, things will turn out fine in the end, believe me!"

Nurse O´Connell opened the door and held it open while Shannon hesitantly walked through it.

The first thing she noticed, besides the machines that she was sure had been there yesterday, was that the thing that helped him breath was no longer on his mouth but placed on his throat. That seemd odd but it didn't bother her half as much as the fact that Ryan was restrained to the bed!

She looked, half horrified, half questioningly at the nurse at her side.

"I know dear, I don't like it either. Not one bit! But that horrible warden in that prison your h…Ryan is in, called the head of the hospital and demanded that Ryan be restrained, since he's still a prisoner…"

"Oh I see…"

"I suppose at the moment he's not suffering from it too much, but the minute he wakes up, those horrible things are coming off or the hospital board and that horrible warden will have to deal with Margaret O´Connel!"

"Thank you. I know he'd appreciate that, and so do I!"

"Oh your perfectly welcome dear! Now are you O.K in here?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

She found it really wasn't half as scary as yesterday, besides the fact that she was scared to mess with the machinery in some way…

"Oh! I almost forgot! I asked the doctor, and he said that Ryan's breathing seems to be stable enough for us to try to take him off the respirator for a few minutes. I thought maybe that would be good to do when you want to shave him."

"Oh, yes, I guess…If it's O.K…I mean I don't want to put him in any danger just because…"

"Oh no! That's not at all the case! I asked the doctor because it's procedure for us to review the cases every week, and Ryan has been in here for two weeks now. And so I asked the doc if Ryan's breathing had improved any over the last week, and he said that it had, and that he thought that Ryan was ready to be taken of the respirator, gradually of course, Which is in fact a very good sign. I means he's getting to be a lot better and might wake up soon!"

"Oh." She smiled.

"See, I told you things weren't so bad, huh?"

"I guess not."

She wasn't quite sure she liked this new piece of information…

Jeez! Am I ready for this?! For him to wake up and all?…

But then her conscience caught up with her…

Oh don't be such a bitch Shannon, this isn't all about you! Of course you should be happy that he's getting better!

She was awakened from her thoughts by the nurse.

"So, anyway, We can't keep him off then respirator for too long a time in the beginning, so you start shaving him, and when your finished everywhere else you can call me and I´ll help you. Alright?"

"Sure. Thank you!"

"You're welcome dear! Now you'd best start shaving the man before this water turns completely cold." She put the bowl down on the nightstand.

"Oh!"

The nurse smiled at her.

"I´ll see you in a bit dear…"

She moved to the door and walked out.

"So…I guess it's just you and me then, huh?"

She got the things she needed out of the bag and put them on the nightstand.

"I hope this is what you're still using, if you can get it now a days, without me bringing it in for you…I bet you can if you want to though. You always were a damn resourceful bugger."

I wonder if you're still going to be when you wake up…But then again what the fuck do I care. I´ll shave you and fix you up and maybe even stick around to help you out when you wake up. If you can stop yourself from being such a pig all the time that is…I don't intend to let you hurt me all over again if that's what you think…!

She gently touched his coarse cheek.

You look older…Tired…Oh fuck it, never mind! I'm not gonna start feeling sorry for you! I know all about you, and this time I mean all, and you're not manipulating and cheating me again!

Thinking she had better get to work on that horrible stubble he had, she took the shaving cream and the razor out.

She opened the can of shaving cream and a familiar smell issued. She sniffed the can and caught herself sighing lustily.

DAMN IT! No prob. though, it's just old memories coming back. Nothing's gonna change, he's still a fucking jerk for leaving you, and you're smart enough to know his tricks this time around!

Still feeling annoyed she shook the can violently and instead of doing it the nice way and squirting the cream into her hand before applying it, she put the can near Ryan's cheek and directly pressed the button. She then hastily moved the cream around with the brush and started scraping away the beard with the razor, working quickly and efficiently.

The sooner you get out of here, the sooner you'll feel better Shannon!

But soon her thoughts and memories as well as the smell from the shaving cream had her captured again.

She though about all those Saturday late mornings, spent in bed with coffee and pastry, lying here close to him; her husband, smelling his mix of sweat, deodoriser and after-shave…Or all those times when they had shared a bath…The bathroom filled with candles, hot water in the tub and the steam floating in the air, making the light misty…She would shave him, and he would rub her feet…or lick them…

She briskly woke up to reality when someone knocked on the door.

"Dear? Would you like me to help you get Ryan of the respirator now?"

"Oh! Um, yeah…I think so…"

"Good!"

The nurse smiled encouragingly.

She then moved up to the bed, and put away the bowl of water so that it was standing at the table besides Ryan's bed.

Shannon, almost ready to flee the scene completely, positioned herself as close to the door as possible.

"Don't worry dear, it's not half as dramatic and scary as it looks."

Shannon turned away as the nurse started to disconnect the tube in Ryan's mouth, but when she felt a small pat on her shoulder, she turned back.

"All done now dear…See, that wasn't so bad was it?"

"Is he still alive?"

"Of course he is dear! There, look, he's breathing on his own, even if the breaths are very shallow right now…"

Shannon, from a far, inspected Ryan's belly and chest, and it seemed to rise and fall back against the bed in relatively regular intervals. There was also a small tube going into his nose, which she supposed helped him, breath too, and the nurse had left that in.

"Now, I'm going to have to ask you to hurry up a bit though, dear…We can't keep him off the respirator for more than 10 minutes, and probably less…"

"Oh!"

She tried to move forward, but she felt as if her feet had rooted into he ground, refusing her to walk even an inch.

"That's alright dear…Come here and I´ll stand her besides you the whole time if you want me to…"

"The whole time? " She sounded unsure about whether or not she could trust that the nurse wouldn't run out on her.

"The whole time."

"O.K…"

She went and stood by the bed, but she couldn't keep the blade to Ryan's skin or she would definitely cut him the way her hands were shaking!

The older woman gently placed her hand on top of Shannon's to steady it as she shaved around Ryan's mouth and under his nose. Still, she managed to slip at one point, making a bloody gush in the skin near Ryan's upper lip.

"Oh fuck!" She looked horrified as blood filled the small red stripe, and a single drop appeared on the skin.

Nurse O´Connell thought that the suddenly very frail looking woman would cry any minute now, and she wasn't wrong…Shannon burst into tears and rushed out the door as fast as she could.

"Oh dear, oh dear…Poor girl…"

She quickly and efficiently finished shaving Ryan and put the tube back on his mouth before she went to find Shannon.

She found her in the restroom, sitting on one of the toilets snivelling helplessly.

"Dear…May I come in?"

The lock turned so that the door could open.

"Oh sweetheart!…"

"I'm sorry. I'm being so silly!"

"Oh no you're not silly at all! If that was my ex-husband lying in there, I would have fled at first sight of him and never come back. I think you're being extraordinarily brave dear!"

"Thanks…I…I just don't know anything right now…I don't know what I feel for him or about this…I mean him being…And…Well the whole situation is just so confusing! I didn't know how badly he was hurt when I came here, and I was just going to see him once and tell him that I think he's an asshole for leaving me like that, and now…."

"Oh poor, poor dear! I know it must all be terribly confusing for you! And it's not fair either! You shouldn't have to take care of him; he should be taking care of himself! Unfortunately things aren't always fair I'm afraid…"

"I'm just so angry with him!…"

"Oh and you should be! That's a terrible thing to do to a girl, to anyone, running out on you like that!"

"But I…Oh I don't know what I feel anymore!"

"Dear, What you need is a bit of rest, I think!"

"No. That won't do any good…I've tried to sleep and all, but I can't…"

"Oh dear…Well, have you tried to tell him how you feel?"

"Now?"

"Well, what I mean is, if you articulate your feelings and needs now, maybe you will feel a bit better and it won't be so hard doing it when he's awake…Assuming that is what you want to do…"

"Yeah...Maybe…I…Just feel so silly talking to him…I mean small talk is hard enough, but this…I´d feel sort of guilty, yelling at him when he can't even defend himself…"

"Maybe if you write a letter then? Just to let it out…Make things a bit clearer maybe? And then when he wakes up, you can decide whether you want to read it to him, tell him in other words, or just let it be and go on with your life…"

"Yeah…That sounds good I guess…"

"O.K, well in that case, maybe you want to sit in the kitchen, or would you rather go home and do it in the privacy of your own home?"

"Nah...The kitchen would be fine…I can't stand to be alone right now…"

"Oh, well in that case, I'm here for you dear, whenever you need me!"

"Thanks…"

That's when she remembered…

"Oh fuck! I just left Ryan with…"

"Oh, I took the liberty of fixing that dear…He's all shaved and put back on the respirator."

"Oh. Thanks…"

"You're welcome dear. Now what do you say we try to make it over to the kitchen and I make you a cup of coffee huh?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

The nurse smiled at her.

"Good, let's do that then."

She stretched her hand out to Shannon who took it and was pulled up by the nurse.

As she was walking back Shannon remembered something else…

"Darn! My bag! And the after-shave!"

"What after-shave dear?"

"The one I bought…It's in the bag…I suppose you didn't put any after-shave on him?"

"Well no, I couldn't find any, and I wasn't sure if he would want any…"

"Oh he was always very particular with that…He'd be surly as hell whenever he'd run out or would have to go without it…"

"Oh! I see…I´ll run back there when we've gone to the kitchen then, and put some on him, if you don't mind me looking in your bag that is, and then I´ll bring the bag for you in the kitchen, how is that for a plan?"

"Oh that sounds good. I'm not sure I can go in there right now…"

"You don't have to dear…you don't have to at all…Just wait until you feel ready…"

"O.K…"


	5. Dasies or I love you, I love you not Cha...

As she went home that evening she couldn't stop thinking about him.

Her ex-husband…

She wondered who he was now a days.

She had heard about Cyril being executed, and hated Ryan all the more for making that happen to his brother, whom she liked and loved a lot too, even though hehad beenannoying at times. But never once had she stopped and thought about how Ryan would feel about it…She had still been too full of hate. It wasn't really until she had seen the frail looking being in that hospital bed a few days ago that she had fully understood that he had really gone through a big change…He really did look a lot older than last time she had seen him, and his ageing didn't seem to be in proportion to the years that had past since last she saw him.

He looked tired and weary, and almost as if he was in peace with just lying there, seemingly sleeping.

As if this was something he had wished for…

It scared her!

She was used to the leering, bullshit charm, fighting, flirting, foul-mouthed Irishman that she had married. Full of life and passion, and fight.

He mind once again, even though she tried to stop herself, slipped back to those times in the bathroom…

There had been something magical about those evenings.

The soft light.

The warm steam, feeling as if it ran through her body…

Talking…

Just actually lying there, hugging, kissing, and talking, about everything and anything. About the trips they had made, Hamburg, Prague, The Bahamas, Miami, and trips they planned on doing…

That had actually been before they had started to drift apart. She couldn't pin-point the moment she had felt it the first time, but even before Ryan had landed himself in Oz, they had been drifting apart. Maybe it had been his fucking around, or the gang taking up more and more of his time, or the late bar-nights and partying, or Cyril being hurt, or Cyril living with them, but no matter how much she tried to blame it all on Ryan, she had had a part in it too. Even though he had really been an incredible pig at times!

Feeling an urge course through the very core of her, she went upstairs and into the bathroom. She wasn't sure what it was this unholy feeling was about.

It certainly wasn't about sex.

More about…

About tenderness…

Longing for those precious moments when she had been happy; really truly happy and in love with Ryan O´reily.

She knew it was a lost cause.

She'd never get to feel that feeling again unless she found someone else to love. But something in her inner soul couldn't help her from trying that night, as she drew up a bath for herself, got some candles out, lit them and laid back in the tub.

When she got to bed, she did feel a lot better.

The bath hadn't proved to be what she had wanted it to, but perhaps it had proved to be what she had needed.

After she had dried, she make herself a cup of camomile tea, (she couldn't drink coffee at night,) took out a piece of paper and started writing.

"Good afternoon my dear! Feeling any better today?"

"Yes thank you, quite a bit."

"That's good to hear. So do you want any company today, or do you want to be alone with Ryan?"

"I think I´d rather be alone with him today actually, but thanks for offering!"

"Oh good! I´ll rush in there and clean things up a bit if you want me too."

"No that's fine thanks, I think I might need something to do anyway…"

"Oh! Well if you ever get bored but still want to stay behind, you could always borrow one of my books. I read whenever I work nights and I tend to forget to bring the books home after I've read them, so I have quite a few in my locker that I've already finished, so just say the word."

"Actually, a book might be kinda nice."

"Oh, well, I´ll bring them into Ryan's room and you can choose one or two then."

"Sounds good, thanks!"

When she stepped into the room she realised that today she actually felt a lot better.

Whether it had been the bath, or writing that letter and getting all her feelings on paper, she did not know, but she was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.

She went to Ryan's room, said hello to the officer sitting outside, (they had accepted her as Ryan's wife without asking for some reason, and she was hoping it would stay that way until was finished with all of this fuss. She didn't need a cranky warden or the police chasing after her right now!) Then she went in, found a chair and sat down next to the bed.

"So, I'm here. Anytime you want to wake up now would be fine, you know."

Of course he didn't, and she had to chuckle a bit.

"Well fine, be that way then, you stubborn bastard!" She jokingly scolded him.

He looked like a mess, blood still on his forehead from a wound somewhere, bruises and newly stitched scars everywhere and a black eye.

He was sweaty and smelly and obviously still hot.

"Do you have a fever, huh?"

She stood up and put her hand on his forehead.

God knows…

But I won't kiss your forehead, that's for sure! I´d rather let you sweat to death before I go there! I'm not falling in love with you again!

Besides, I could just yell for a nurse and she'll take your temperature.

And that's what she did.

"No ma'am, according to the thermometer, he's fine, although it's not completely unlikely that he's had a fever recently…One of the parts of his brain that got injured, as I understand it that is, regulates temperature. So right now, one minute he can be having hot flashes and the next he can be as cold as death…"

As she saw the look on Shannon's face, she realised how terribly wrongher choice of words had been!

"Oh I'm sorry ma'am! I didn't mean it that way!"

"That's all right, it just taking a bit getting used to, seeing your e…Husband like this."

"Oh yes! It must be awful…I can't imagine what it would be like seeing my boyfriend like this," the young nurse said. "Oh well, at least the doctor thinks he's going to get better soon."

"That's good to hear, thank you."

The nurse made her way towards the door, eager to get out before she messed up again.

"Oh! By the way…"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Is it O.K if I wash him a bit? Just his face and such?"

"Oh! Of course! We where going to bathe him today, but we've been terribly busy all day…"

"Oh, I see…Is there anywhere I can find a sponge or something, and some soap do you think?"

"Oh I can bring you some!"

"That's wonderful. Thanks."

The nurse once again made her way towards the door and out into the corridor.

"So you were going to get a sponge bath from that gorgeous nurse huh? I bet you'd curse yourself blue that you've missed it, if you were awake," she chuckled

She sat back down, just watching him lying there, so peaceful.

I'm glad you're at peace though…

Or am I?

You certainly don't deserve it for what you did to me! …

But still, you've been through so much shit in your life, I guess you creating some of your own is only to be expected…

Sitting back and just listening to the sound of the machines, she was happy he had got a room of his own, it made it easier on her too, she needed time and space to think…

She jumped at the sound of a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Here I come with the water and soap."

"Oh! Good."

"I didn't know what else to bring, but here is a towel and a sponge and I brought something to lay under him when you wash him so that the water doesn't wet the bed."

"That's great. Thanks."

That's when she realised.

"Oh damn!"

"What ma'am?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that I should have brought some deodoriser…"

"Oh, well if he's not used to anything fancy, I guess you could always find some in the hospital shop."

"There is a hospital shop?"

" You didn't know? Yes there is a shop down in the vestibule, just when you walk in…It's nothing fancy, but they have some fruit and flower and magazines and that sort of stuff, and some lunch-food and a bit of deodoriser and the likes too."

"Oh! That's good…I just wish I had known before…"

"Oh I don't think he'll get that sweaty that fast…Besides if we ask the officers outside, I'm sure we can open the window and let some air in…"

It wasn't until then that Shannon realised just how hot and stuffy the room really was. It almost made her get a bit of claustrophobic, and she knew that had Ryan been awake, it would definitely have effected him the same way!

It made her angry, thinking that they'd let a man lay sweating to death in a hot stuffy room like this, just so that they could be lazy and wouldn't have to keep their eyes on him; and it made her even more angry to think that they thought that they had to carefully watch and incarcerated a man who was already shackled to his bed!

But on the other hand she, better than anyone else, knew what that man was capable of, so she wasn't surprised.

She also knew that she couldn't blame the officers sitting outside the door for all of this. They were just doing their job and obeying orders.

"Well, I think it would be good, I mean I'm almost sweating to death in here!"

"Would you like for me you ask them?"

"Nah, I´ll do it myself, but thanks for offering."

"That's all right. Should I call one of them in?"

"Would you? That would be great."

"Sure."

The nurse made her way out, and a second or two later, one of the officers made his way into the room.

"Oh! I'm sorry for not knocking ma'am!"

"That's all right."

She was annoyed with the officer and his poor manners, but decided that she was going to have to keep in their good graces, in case she ever wanted another favour.

"Do you think it would be possible to open the window a bit Officer…Attkins?"

"Well, you see ma'am, we have strict orders from our employer at Oswald not to endanger the community by letting O´reily here have a chance to escape."

HE´S IN A COMA YOU IDIOT!

"Well, without sounding too sarcastic Officer Attkins… As you see, Ryan is still pretty deep inside a coma, so I don't think he'll be going anywhere right now…"

"Well…I suppose it's alright then…But don't tell anyone or I'm in deep shit!"

"Not a word officer, not a word."

"Good. I´ll go and see if I can find the key to the window then…"

"Lovely, thank you very much, officer!"

Once the officer had man his way out, Shannon turned to her ex-husband and said: "I don't really see how you manage to live around these idiots! I don't suppose you have much choice though, huh?…"

She carefully rolled him onto his side a bit and laid the underlay in place as well as she could. Then she started to undress his upper body, unbuttoning the soaked, ugly white hospitalgown and carefully taking his arms out of it. She couldn't remove it completely though, since he was fastened to a drip.

Looking at his upper body, she was appalled when she saw the marks and bruises.

It almost looked as if he had been clubbed by something.

"Oh you poor thing!", she heard her herself utter before she could stop herself.

I bet you did something to deserve it though, she though, but then felt herself getting milder. If anybody deserves something like this that is…

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Here is the key to the window ma'am, but I must warn you that under no circumstances is he to be left alone with an open window!"

Oh give up! The man is unconscious and securely fastened with both arms to a heavy bed ! Besides, we're five stories up, and even Ryan isn't that desperate and stupid!

"All right, I understand. He can't be left alone with an open window."

"Good."

The officer went up to one of the windows and opened it, and Shannon felt the lovely fresh air flow in.

"Thank you, Officer."

"You're welcome ma'am."

He made his way out and Shannon returned her attention to washing her ex-husband.

She tried the water with her hand and made sure it was not to hot and not too cold. Then she dipped the sponge in the water, squeezed some of the water out of it, and applied some soap to it.

She carefully, held his hand in her own, lifting his limp arm slightly she stroked the sponge over his upper arm, unconsciously stopping to fasten her eyes at the bull-skull tattoo that had always turned her on.

She found with great shame that it still sort of did.

She washed his neck that was moist with sweat and as much as she could, his shoulders.

She couldn't reach his back, so she figured hopefully the personnel would do that later.

Then she started on his chest, softly moving the sponge over the scar underneath his nipple.

"You know it's a pity we always get together under such weird circumstances…", she said to him. "But then again you always seem to get yourself into those weird circumstances one way or another…"

She ran the sponge all the way down to his hand, where she saw the little green shamrock on his hand.

She remembered how she had admired it when they had first got together. The symbol of how tough and wild he was…

But in time she had started to hate it. When he started hanging out with the gang more and more and got more and more "duties" to perform for them.

She studied it hard. It was nothing but a little ink under his skin, nothing else, and still it had caused them both so much trouble and pain.

She decided to move on to his belly and was, when she pulled back the quilt, a bit startled to find that his lower body was naked. The even more startling thing though, was the tube they had put in his dick.

Shit that's got to hurt!

Just then she heard a knock on the door.

"I'm sorry it took a while dear, I had to go and tend to some patients first and…"

As she saw the look on Shannon's face, she knew that something was wrong.

"Whatever's the matter dear?"

Then she saw that Shannon had pulled away the quilt, and she saw the way she was staring at the Foley-catheter.

"Oh! That."

Shannon looked at her startled.

"I'm sorry dear, I should have told you about that…It's just to help him pee, you see…"

"But…But doesn't it hurt?"

"Oh, not much. Not when it's just lying there, still. He's not in too much pain from anything right now we think…It might be a bit difficult for him when we take it out though, but right now the two of you should just try to take things one day at a time."

The two of us?! We're a team now?! Or a pair?!

She certainly didn't feel like they were.

In fact, right now, she felt very much alone!

"Dear, are you all right?"

"Uh, um, yeah, it's just that…Oh jeez!…"

"Don't worry he will be just fine."

Shannon felt herself starting to snivel again.

"That's all right dear, just you cry…You could use a chance to let go a bit…"

"He would hate all of this! It's so humiliating for him…Being restrained to the bed, and not even being allowed to have an open window and all."

"Don't you suppose he's used to the windows being closed though, dear? If he's in prison, I mean…"

She hadn't thought about that.

She had just thought about how the man she used to know, would feel.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but still…"

"I know dear, I know…But It'll turn out fine in the end. You'll see…"

"Oh I hope so!"

"Come here, let's think of something nicer huh? You could use a bit of a break."

"But I was just washing…"

"Oh he can wait for a moment I'm sure."

"Ok…" She felt absolutely helpless!

"Now let's see what kind of books I have in here…"

She brought forth a big paper bag filled to the brim with neatly stacked books.

"Do you have any particular favourites?"

"Um…Some mystery-story?"

"Oh! A bit of Sherlock Holmes then?"

"Yeah, that would be good I guess…"

"How about "The Speckled Band"?"

"Oh! You have that one?"

It was the only books she remembered Ryan and her both liking.

Or well, he tolerated her reading out loud from it for him…

"Yes, of course dear, I have them all. " She smiled. "Would you like to borrow that one then?"

"Yeah, that'd be good."

"Well here you go! You'll see dear, you'll feel better soon, and things will turn out well in the end."

"Yeah…"

"Oh well, I best get moving, more patients to tend to. Call me if there is anything you want, O.K?"

"But…How about that thing in his…"

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's been securely fastened to his leg. See?"

She carefully looked at his leg and sure enough the tube was fastened to it with a bit of tape.

"Oh, O.K…"

"And if you run into any troubles dear, just ask for me and I promise I´ll come running."

Shannon dared a careful smile.

"Thanks."

The woman made her way out, and Shannon walked around to Ryan's other side to start washing him again.

She noticed that he had a scar on his lower arm. In fact that is where the tattoo with her name used to be…

At first she was a bit startled by the realisation that he had actually got rid of it, but then she though: Oh fair enough, I guess since we're not married any more…But did you have to go and scar yourself so badly just because of that?! I suppose it's that fucking doctor that put you up to it, huh? Or was it you yourself maybe? I bet it was. God knows you always had a talent for obsessions! Oh well, your're naked and the widow's open soI guess I´d better hurry up now before you get a cold or something.

The truth was, she had had enough of thinking about old memories for the day. She had to consider the future, his and her own, separately.

Just when she put the sponge with the now cold water on his chest, his eyes flinched.

She jumped a bit, startled.

"Fuck! Oh god you scared me!"

I think I´d better run and tell the nurse about this!

She had the mind to quickly cover him up with he blanket, before she made it out the door, past the temporarily empty chair where the officer was supposed to be, and hurried down the hallway to find nurse O´Connell.

Luckily, she found her in the coffee-room.

"Nurse O´Connell?! " she panted.

"Oh whatever's the matter sweetheart?"

"Nothing, I mean, it's …Ryan's eyelids just twitched, and I haven't seen them do that before, I mean not recently, and you told me to tell you if there was any changes so…"

"Oh that's wonderful, dear! "

"It is?"

"Yes, it's a very good sign! Let's get word to the doctor in charge, he'll want to run a few tests and of course have a look at Ryan."

"Um, the doctor in charge…It's not that doctor Winters, is it?" She said with poison in her voice.

"Oh, no not today, dear," the nurse replied, slightly confused at the young woman's acidity.

"Good."

"Don't you like Doc Winters?"

"Well no, I really don't."

The nurse was a bit surprised but simply said: "Oh fair enough, everyone can't love each other. Now let's got tell the doctor about this, shall we?"

"Um, yeah, that sounds good to me, I guess."

"So what you're saying, Missus O´reily, is that you actually saw him blink?"

"Yes, or well, no...It was more like, like a little flinch or something, like he still he had his eyes closed, but he reacted to the water being cold."

"Hmm, well I think we had better make another evaluation of his condition."

Shannon turned to the nurse by her side; she felt much safer with her.

"Is that good or bad?"

"Doing a re-evaluation?"

"Yes."

"Well in this case, I think it will prove to be a positive thing."

"Will it hurt him a lot?"

She found her self actually worrying about what he would feel and got annoyed with herself.

So what the fuck would I care if it hurts? I don't have take care of him or worry about him!

"Hurt? Oh, no, not at all! They'll do a CT scan of him, and look at his eye reflexes and other such things. They might also prick him lightly with some needles, but that's just to see if he reacts to pain. They way also want to see if he reacts to sounds and different tastes."

"What kind of tastes?"

"Well, usually strong ones, like vinegar and the likes…"

"Yuck!"

Nurse O´Connel chuckled a bit.

"Oh I know dear, but it's important that it is a strong taste for him to be able to react. Isn't that right doctor Breen?"

"That's absolutely right Nurse OConnell. You really have nothing to worry about ma'am. We're not out to hurt you husband, we're here to help him!" He smiled warmly at her.

"Thank you doctor Breen. I'm sorry if I sound too pushy. I just want what's best for Ryan."

She really did by now, and there was no sense in denying it.

He might deserve the pains and fires of hell for what he had done to her, but if that was the case, she would be the one inflicting them on him, not some doctor!

"All right then, I´ll call Radiology and see if they have the time for a CT right away, and while we wait for them, we can do the other examinations. Nurse O´Connell, you pretty much know what is needed, right? "

"Yes, doctor."

"And please ask Doctor Peabody to come join me when he's done with his current patient. I think he's in room 502."

"Absolutely, doctor."

"I'm not sure if you want to be around for the examination, Missus O´reily…It can look a bit harsh sometimes, even though we're not hurting anyone in any way…"

"Um, OK…Can I got down to the gift shop they're supposed to have here then?"

"Yes, that would be an excellent idea! You go down to the gift-shop, and we'll do the examination and when you come back, we can all go up to radiology…Unless, you'd rather skip that part too, of course…"

"Is it going to be bloody alland stuff?"

"Oh not at all! We are simply going to monitor the bleeding in his brain to see if it has become decreased."

"Oh, Ok. I think I might want to be there then."

"All right, well, in that case, I´ll see you in, say…Oh...An hour, and we'll go down to radiology together with Ryan. Does that sound good?"

"Yes, I guess so…"

"There really isn't anything to worry about ma'am. The only thing this means, is that hopefullyyour husband is begining to wake up."

"Um, yes…"

In fact that was one of the things she really was worried about!

Christ! What am I going to do? Or say for that matter? What if he doesn't recognise me? God knows what those injuries have done to his memory! Or even worse, what if he does recognise me and starts talking in front of the cops…!

"Well then, Doctor Peabody and I had better get to work I think."

"Um, yeah…"

Nurse O´Connell saw the great confusion on the young woman's face and so she gently took her by the arm and said: "come on dear, I´ll follow you to the door."

And that's what se did.


	6. Dasies or I love you, I love you not Cha...

When she came back an hour later, they had taken Ryan off the respirator.

"Christ! What's happened?! Is he dead?!"

"Oh no dear! They're just getting him used to breathing on his own, like we did the other day, remember? Here, let's look at him, huh?"

She took the pale-looking woman by the arm gently and carefully led her up to the bed.

"See. He's still breathing, just like yesterday."

Shannon let out a sigh of relief, and was a bit annoyed with herself.

Don't get any ideas! We are not a couple, and I'm not going to fall in love with you again!

"In fact, if you look at him, you can see that his breathing has deepened a bit."

Looking at his chest and stomach she could see that the nurse was actually right.

"So, is that good or bad?"

"That's good dear, that's very good."

"Good…" she felt another stone fall from her heart. "So how long has he been of the re…Whatever the fuck they call it?"

"Respirator dear, and he's been of it for…Oh, ten minutes now I think…"

"Isn't that a bit much?"

"Oh, don't worry dear…After looking at him it seems that they think it's getting easier for him to breath, so that's good. But they still need to be careful though, that's why I'm in here, monitoring him closely all the time."

"Oh."

There was a moment's silence.

"So have they figured out when he's going to wake up?"

"Well, no dear, they still have to make that head CT-remember? We were waiting for you to get back so that we could go to radiology. But that still doesn't mean they know when he's going to wake up exactly, but they can tell you if it looks like it will be days or months at least."

"Oh."

She looked disappointed, and the nurse felt sorry for the young woman.

Poor thing…I know it's a long wait…

"So has he done that eye-twitching thing again?"

"Well, yes, twice in fact. And he seems to be responding to pain and touch and hot and cold, and even smell and taste now, so that's good."

"Oh. So does that mean that making him smell things that seem familiar or giving him things that are familiar might help?"

"Well yes I think it actually might, although you've got to keep in mind that he might not be able to swallow things. But making him taste familiar things by, say moisturising his mouth with them might work. So what do you say we start getting ready to go to radiology, huh?"

"Yeah…That'd be good I guess…"

She looked very hesitant.

"Don't worry dear, it's not going to be the least bit scary. It's like x-ray…Only this time they'll move him on a gurney into a big tunnel-like machine, and they're going to take some pictures of his brain. They can look at those pictures in layers, sort of like slicing the brain…"

Shannon looked horrified for a moment.

"…But of course that's only in the computer, they're not doing anything to him more than taking pictures of his brain."

"Oh, ok."

She looked decidedly calmer!

"So, I´ll just call one of the orderlies and you get the things you want to take with you and we'll go."

"OK…"

"If I were you, I´d bring a book… It can drag out a bit and be quite boring."

"OK."

"Oh! And that reminds me; the doctor said that you should try to talk to him even more now, to stimulate his brain."

"O.K…"

Remembering that Shannon had told her she fond it a bit hard making conversation with her ex-husband, the nurse said: "maybe you can read a bit to him…"

"Yeah… That's a good idea I guess…"

"So, let's get going huh, dear?"

"Yeah, sure."

Shannon started collecting her things when she remembered.

"Oh! Can I put some deodorant on him before we go? I just bought some for him, and I bet he'd feel a lot fresher... If he knew that is…"

"Oh that's a good idea dear, and I'm sure he'd appreciate that! Do that and then call me and we'll go."

"OK."

"O.K, here we are."

"This is x-ray?"

"Exactly."

They were met in the door by two orderlies.

"Welcome. We'll take Mister O´reily here, prep him and bring him to get his head-CT."

Shannon looked agitated. She didn't like the thought of not being around to see what was happening.

"It's alright, dear, the doctor will go and confer with the radiologists and you wait in the waiting room."

"Could…Could you wait with me?…"

"Sure, dear! Of course I will!"

"Thank you!" She let out a sigh in relieve. She didn't like the idea of being left alone with a comatose ex-husband, now turned convict, to look after and a bunch of doctors to fend off.

"Let's sit down for a minute and see if we can find some nice magazines, huh?"

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in the waiting room, reading cosmopolitan and actually having a good time!

Shannon had missed that for along time!

She didn't have all that many really good friends, besides Ricky. It seemed she was always busy with work or some other business, and that she had no real time to hang around with friends. But if she was honest, the people she had known where mostly men from the gang that Ryan and Cyril had been a part of, or the girlfriends of those men. And as the memory of Ryan and where he was nowand how he was doing faded in the minds of the men still out on the street, so did Shannon's friendship with them and their girlfriends.

She wasn't exactly unhappy about that either . Sure some of the guys where nice and exciting and charming and what have you, but she knew all to well now what kind of consequences associating or having a relationship with either of them could have. There was a lot of times over the last few years she had bitterly regretted meeting Ryan at that party, and getting together with him, and getting married to him, and staying married to him for so long…But somehow she didn't anymore. They had had some pretty good times together, and some pretty fucked up, lousy times too, but thinking about it now, she couldn't really regret any of it even if she had left it all behind and went on with her life. But left it, she had. In fact the only reason she had got to know about Ryan's "accident" (so far it was apparently officially labelled an accident,) was that she had bumped into the wife of one of the guys in the gang who knew Liam and the woman had recognised her.

Suddenly she was awakened from her thoughts by someone talking to her.

" Alright, we're done with the x-raying for now."

It wasn't a minute before she replied.

"And?!"

"Well, I think Doctor Breen had better talk to you about them."

"Alright, but when?!"

"Missus O´reily…" The nurse did her best to try to calm her down a bit.

"Shannon…"

Margaret smiled.

"Margaret."

Shannon briefly and faintly smiled back before turning her attention back to the radiologist, who seemed lightly shook up by the violent reactions of the woman married to the apparently equally violent offender lying in that bed in a coma.

"So when the heck is the Doc going to talk to me about all of this?!"

"Missus O´reily…"

He took a step back as if he wanted to protect himself.

"Shannon, I think it's best if we take Ryan back to the ward now, and then you can talk to Doctor Breen when we get there. I´ll make sure he'll take the time to see you as soon as he possibly can, dear."

"Oh. Thanks."

"You're welcome dear. Now Mister…Jameson…Would you please take us to Mister O´reily or take Mister O´reily to us?"

"I´ll go get him, you can wait by the door."

The radiologist looked like he wanted the two women out of the ward before they both went crazy, looking for answers and thrashed his machines.

And that was exactly what he wanted!

Shannon and the nurse went to the door and waited.

When the orderlies wheeled the bed, with Ryan in it and Shannon saw that he was still in one piece and didn't seem to have been hurt by the examination, she, to her own annoyance, drew a sigh of relief.

She took her eyes off of him, opened the door and started walking before she could confuse herself more with thoughts about him and his current, past and future situation.


	7. Daisies or I love you, I love you not Ch...

Once they were back on the ward, they went to Ryan's room, where they were met by a very angry looking officer.

Knowing something might happen, Nurse O´Connell quickly told the orderly to put Ryan back into his room and connect him to the stationary respirator and the drip again.

When the man was finished, the three others where still standing silently and restrained outside the room, waiting. Once he had gone, the officer started…

"Look, Missus O´reily! I told you not to leave the prisoner alone with the window opened!"

"Excuse me officer, but what are you talking about?!" Margaret fired back to defend her newfound friend.

"Ted, when he was coming back here after his break, saw Missus O´reily run down the hallway, and when he entered the room he saw that she hadn't closed the window, even though I specifically instructed her that the prisoner under now circumstances was to be left alone in the room with the window open!"

"Oh!" She laughed slightly, but the officer didn't look at all amused, so she once again resumed a serious expression.

"Well, you see officer, Missus O´reily was just running to tell me about something very important. Something that couldn't wait until she had the time to find one of you officers and ask you for the key so that she could close the window."

"Be that as it may, Ted--I mean officer Laurent, saw it as his duty to report this to our superiors, which means I am now in trouble for going against regulations, and the prisoner is prohibited to have the window open now, even if anyone is in the roo…"

That's when Shannon burst.

"OH WOULD YOU JUST STOP CALLING HIM "THE PRISONER"!?! He's a real person for fuck´s sake! With real feelings, and the ability to feel hot and cold and the wind on his face and the difference in breathing some fucking stuffy hospital air, no offence Margaret…"

"Non taken dear."

"…And the fresh air outside! And right now, I, as his e…wife, know that that's what he needs to get better! Why is that so hard to understand?! I'm fucking sorry that I forgot to call one of you tight-assed bastards in here to close the window, and I'm sorry I got you in trouble, but someone has to look out for Ryan, and right now the only three people who seem to be doing that are me, nurse O´Connell here, and Doc Breen!"

She stomped of towards the ladies´s room, crying.

"Oh god!"

"Don't worry, Officer, she's just blowing off steam. I'm sure she didn't mean all of that."

Oh yes I think she did! And I agree with her wholeheartedly!… Although I think there are a few more people in here that care for Mister O´reily... She added to herself

"Well, even so, that doesn't change the fact that that little escapade she made into the hallway, leaving the p…Her husband alone in his room, might cost me my job!"

"Oh dear!"

Margaret suddenly felt a bit more sympathetic towards the young man.

OK so he may belong to a corps of tight-assed idiots, but he seems reasonable and nice enough…

"I´ll see if I can't get the doctor to call your boss and clear this thing up…Leave the name and phone number of your boss in the reception and I´ll get to it right after I find Missus O´reily and manage to console her.

"Oh. Thanks…"

Margaret started walking away.

"Oh and nurse!…" The young man seemed slightly redder in the face than when she had last looked at him.

"Yes?"

"Tell Missus O´reily that I didn't mean to be mean…I'm…I'm just a bit scared that I'll loose my job…The wife is having our firstborn in two weeks and we have payments to make on our new house and all, so I can't afford to loose this job right now…"

"I´ll tell her that, and I'm sure she'll understand. And if I don't see you again, good luck with the baby!"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." She smiled to him and walked away.

As usual, the nurse found Shannon in the ladies´s room.

"Are you O.K dear?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine. Pissed as hell, but fine!"

The nurse laughed.

"Oh well, I'm glad to hear that…Want to go back to Ryan's room then?"

"I'm not sure I can actually face that cocksucking officer again, you know…Not without punching him in the face!"

"Don't be too harsh on him, dear…He was just frightened…Apparently the young man and his wife have their first child coming in a few weeks, and he was afraid of loosing his job, and with that their sole source of income as I understood it."

"Well that still doesn't give him the right to--!"

"--He asked me to apologise to you, and he did seem genuinely sorry."

"Oh."

Shannon felt like an idiot!

"D´you think I should go back and apologise to him for saying all that stuff?"

"If you feel like it…"

"Yeah, I think I´d better…"

"Want me to come with you?"

"Nah…I´ll see you later."

"Sure, dear. I´ll stop by and get you when Doctor Breen is ready for you, shall I? He said it would be about half an hour to maybe an hour, depending on how long he has to entertain the medical students, but after that he's all yours."

She winked at the younger woman.

Shannon chuckled a bit.

"That sound great thanks. Although I think I´ll have enough trouble when Ryan decides to wake up, without me being romantically involved with his doctor."

Margaret joined in her chuckle.

"Oh I think you might be right about that, dear! So what do you say you try to make it back to Ryan, and I´ll see you in half an hour or so?"

"Yeah, sounds good I guess…"

Shannon made it out of the restroom, trying her very best to think of a good way to apologise.

45 minutes later, when she had had a nice conversation with the officer, listened to his worries and explained to him what she felt Ryan needed, of course turning on her womanly charm in the process, they had agreed that Greg, the officer, would still allow Shannon and Ryan to have the window open on his watch, and Shannon had assured him that she would never, ever walk away like that again, leaving the window open without an officer in the room, unless it was a real emergency.

Thus, both parties were reasonably satisfied.

When Margaret arrived, the two former enemies were chatting away quite merrily about favourite restaurants in town.

"So, I take it the two of you have made up then?"

"Yeah, we have. Officer Wilkinson here is actually quite a decent fella."

"And Missus O´reily is quite a strong minded but friendly woman."

"Oh well, I'm glad that you have each come to that conclusion. So, what do you say we go in and see how Ryan is doing while we wait for doctor Breen to come, Shannon?"

"Sounds great to me, nur…Margaret!"

The older woman opened the door for Shannon and they both walked into the room.

"So, where do we take it from here?" Shannon asked as she looked sombrely at Ryan.

"Well there is quite a few things you can do to hopefully help him progress further faster. In fact, the thing you did earlier, simply bathing him, seems to work in some cases."

"It does?"

"Yes. In fact, most kinds of touch, be it a sponge bath or a massage can help stimulate the senses and so, make it easier for him to come around."

Oh I know what kind of senses those two things would stimulate, I even know what part of the body would react first, I think!

The nurse obviously read her mind, because she said: "Well dear, any reaction is good, don't you think?…" She winked.

Shannon laughed, "Well yes, that might be."

Margaret laughed with her.

"Seriously though, touch helps a lot it seems. As does reading and talking to people. We also try to move his arms and legs as much as possible."

"Oh, so you do that sort of thing when I'm not here then?"

"Yes."

That reminded Shannon of something she had wanted to ask.

"So has Ryan's mom been to visit him yet?"

"Yes, she been here at least three times a week over the two weeks he's been here. But she usually comes during the day. Strangely enough she hasn't been around yet this week…"

"Oh, I see. Is she nice?"

"Oh yes very! Haven't you met her?!"

"No. I mean…No…I always thought she was dead. That's what he said to me…"

"Oh, I see…That's strange…"

"I know…"

"Perhaps that is something the two of you need to talk about, huh?"

"Yes, I think so too."

There was a bit of a silence. Margaret looked at her wristwatch and then said: "Oh! I should probably go and check where doctor Breen has gone to. He said he was on his way in a few minutes, and that was well over half an hour ago. He's probably got lost, he's never really managed to learn how to find his way around here."

Shannon chuckled.

"Men! You can't even trust them not to loose their way in their own work place!"

"Oh how true, dear!" Margaret chuckled with her.

"Well, go rescue the poor man, and I´ll stay here with Ryan."

"Sounds good, dear! I´ll be right back."

She made it out of the room.

"So…I guess we should really try to put up a plan for you or something, ´cause god knows I don't want to be stuck here for the rest of my life…!"

She sat down to ponder that last thought.

Having been sitting there for a while, eyes closed, she realised that someone was moaning.

She looked up.

Ryan was lying in his bed, moaning and agitated, trying to turn over on his side, but being unable to, due to the cuffs.

Shannon got up and stood by the bed.

"Shhhh…Shhh…Calm down, will you…It's OK…It's going to be fine…"

She wasn't sure at all that he could hear her at first, because he didn't seem to want to stop. But when she put her hand on his arm and leaned over him a bit, he stopped moving at least. But he was still moaning, something that almost sounded like words…

She tried to hear what he was moaning about, but couldn't. She put her hand on his forehead and gently stroked his cheek, and that made him calm down and be quiet. It had sounded as if he was in pain though, which made her think about calling a nurse. Luckily, right then, there was a knock on the door.

"Here we are, dear."

"He's started moving about…And he was mumbling about something, or making some sort of sound, but I couldn't hear what he was talking about…"

"Oh goodness! That is good news! Isn't it doctor?"

"It might be. Step back for a moment Missus O´reily, and let me look at you husbands eyes…" Doctor Breen said.

She did and the doctor stepped up to the bed and shone a light in Ryan's eyes.

"Well, he's still not quite conscious, but hopefully it won't be long now."

Shannon smiled and the nurse smiled with her.

"Oh that's wonderful, isn't it dear?"

"Yeah, it sure is!"

And right now, that was truly what she felt. Sure she was nervous and still very unsure of what she felt for him, if anything at all but anger, but it was still nice to know that he was going to be O.K, or at least wake up soon.

"Nurse O´Connell told me that the two of you have been talking about ways to stimulate Mister O´reily in order to make him wake up…"

Exchanging secret glances, the two women near enough cracked up completely, but Shannon managed to pull herself together and said: "Yes, doctor we were. I was sort of wondering what I can do to make things move forward a bit with Ryan's condition."

"Well, I take it Nurse O´Connell have told you about the bathing and massage…"

Once again, the women nearly broke out in laughter, making doctor Breen really wonder what was going on, and what about what he was saying was so funny.

"Yes, Doctor, she has."

"Now those are procedures that we are all quite familiar with here on the ward, since we have been working with them for a long time, but I, as recently as yesterday, read an article in "The New York Medical Magazine", that commented the use of the patients senses of taste and smell as a factor to be considered in the coma-awakening process."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, for instance the use of a familiar smell such as after-shave or similar things might bring a patient back more easily."

"Oh I see, well, I put some after-shave on him when I shaved him…Perhaps I should keep doing that then?"

"That would be an excellent idea, I think!"

"But what about this thing with taste?"

"Well it's been proven apparently, that making patients taste something they are familiar with and like, such as their favourite dish, can help bring them back faster."

"Oh I see…"

"So maybe that is something to consider…"

"It most certainly is, Doctor!"

"Good! I'm glad to have met someone so engaged in her husband's welfare, and interested in keeping updated! That is not usually the case with the convicts we have got from Oz in the past, most of them seem to be very lonely…"

I bet You are, You poor buggers! Shannon though

"Your husband is a lucky man to have you!"

Oh you don't know how lucky he is to have her doctor! Margaret thought

"Well maybe we should get to discussing the results of the examinations then?"

"That sounds good doctor."

"According to the head CT, the bleeding in the part of your husbands brain that makes him remain in a comatose state have almost dried up, which means that he should awake sometime between tonight or tomorrow, and next week."

Shannon's face lit up, to her own embarrassment.

"Oh that's wonderful, dear!"

The nurse held her arms out to hug her, and Shannon returned the hug, feeling slightly confused and overwhelmed.

"Therefore, we would like to recommend that you spend as much time here as possible, if you would like to be there when your husband wakes up, since it can happen anytime now. Now, in the ward, we try to offer as good a service as we possibly can, and as a part of that, we offer the wives and husbands of the patients a bed in the same room as their spouse, when time comes for their spouse to wake up. Is that something you would be interested in, Missus O´reily?"

Was she?! Didn't she above all feel like running the hell out of there and not return, so that she wouldn't have to face him?!

She decided to stick this one out though. And sticking it out meant being there for him, if only long enough for him to wake up and her being able to tell him her mind.

"Yes, that would be wonderful doctor. Thank you."

"You're welcome ma'am. I´ll arrange for someone to bring in a bed. I think Nurse O´Connell can show you where to find bed linens…"

"I think I´d prefer to have my own, but thanks for the offer. I still have to go home to collect my toothbrush and some other things, so I might as well bring some bed-linen and my own pillow."

"Oh, well that sounds like a good idea too."

"Would you like to get going now dear, or do you want to wait a while?" The nurse asked her.

"I think I´d actually like to get going…"

"I´ll follow you out then, and then I´ll see to it that there is a bed waiting here for you when you get back."

"Thank you!"

"You're perfectly welcome dear!"

The nurse walked her out to the door leading to the elevator-hall.


End file.
